


Call Me A Tree Because I Am Pining For You

by just_plain_fanfics



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Pining, because they suck, im not sorry for it, keith likes lance's legs and i agree, lance likes keith's abs and so do i, oblivious idiots, pidge hunk and allura place bets on them like good friends do, please help them, there's a pun, they are literally just checking each other out, why can't they kiss already
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-10-31 23:08:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10909353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_plain_fanfics/pseuds/just_plain_fanfics
Summary: Lance likes Keith’s abs and Keith likes Lance’s legs and they are pining fools also Good Uncle Coran makes an appearance.





	Call Me A Tree Because I Am Pining For You

**Author's Note:**

> Here this is literally just fluff and pining
> 
> also every time there is a — it switches who the main focus is

Keith is hot. Lance knows this- even he can admit it when someone is as good looking as the shorter boy next to him- but he’s still disgusted at himself for even considering Keith for a moment. Okay, he was a boy, so what? Lance could work with that. Lance has had many bisexual friends back home, so it doesn’t matter to him. But Keith? Not a chance. Keith chooses that exact moment to run a hand through his hair, shaking it out, letting a sigh escape him. Lance has to turn his head the other direction to keep from staring at Keith’s neck, which is glowing, probably due to the training they’d just finished. ‘Nope’, he tells himself, trying to resist the urge to stare at Keith’s pretty face.

—

Keith knew he was gay along time ago, it wasn’t hard for him to accept, it had always made sense. He had always been good at accepting things, not making a big deal of them- well for certain things anyways. Realizing his attraction to Lance was one of these things. He wasn’t entirely sure what it was at first, just letting his gaze drift over Lance’s broad shoulders for longer than necessary, but eventually he came to. Keith still wasn’t completely sure whether it was just physical or a full blown crush, but it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t do anything about it.

There were many instances where his eyes lingered too long on Lance’s body, tracing the outlines of his limbs. It’s Lance’s legs he loves most. The long tan legs that were incredibly well built and sleek. The graceful curve of Lance’s calves, right below the toned thighs that Keith adores. He can feel blood rushing to his face as well as other parts of his anatomy, and quickly Keith thinks of the worst thing he can. That happens to be a lovely mental image of Coran cooking. Wearing nothing but an apron. It takes everything he has not to scream. He swears he can hear the others snickering behind him, saying something that sounds like 'constipated’. He shakes off the intruding thoughts and regains his focus on the mandatory training exercise.

—

Lance can see Keith’s frowning face as it turns into disgust then just plain discomfort and frankly he finds it fascinating, and kind of cute. Shit. Hot yes, but cute? No way, Keith was definitely not cute. He blinks out of his thought and his attention is immediately drawn back to Keith’s perfect middle. Lance can never get enough of Keith’s trim waist, and those perfectly compact abs of his. How much time does Keith spend training to get his stomach to look like that even through a shirt? He’s almost as muscled as Shiro? Is that even possible? As Lance is obviously thinking of other things he doesn’t see the training equipment in front of him. He doesn’t see the misplacement of his foot as it sends him crashing down.

—

Keith only watches as Lance trips over the weights. He admits he may have been staring in the first place, but seeing Lance’s face contort in shock would be worth getting caught. Lance’s concentrated features soften upon the impact, and Keith watches the boy as he ungracefully crashes to the ground. He finds it oddly endearing, and he can barely contain a giggle. Instead, he joins the others in rushing over to see if Lance is alright. Keith is flooded with panic and guilt at the thought of Lance getting hurt. He’s ashamed of himself for not thinking of Lance’s well being first, and he quickens his pace, dropping his bayard and crossing the gym to the spot where Lance fell.

Relief washes over him when Lance sends them all his signature smile accompanied by a thumbs up, and Keith feels his breath return. When had he even lost it? Shit. This might be slightly worse than he originally thought.

—

Fuck. What if they had seen him staring? Lance begins to panic, but doesn’t let it show. He shoots them all a smile, sticking his hand out in the form of a thumbs up. This seems to relax his teammates all quite a bit, and he isn’t sure but he thinks he sees Keith’s shoulders drop a bit of tension. Not that he was looking or anything.

“DUDE! What were you even doing?!” Hunk gasps, and Lance can tell he isn’t upset, just worried. He feels a touch of warmth in his chest, and grins sheepishly at his friend.

“Sorry man. I don’t know what happened.”

“I’m glad you’re okay, but do try to be careful.” This came from Shiro, who was desperately trying to look stern but it only came off as concerned.

“Sure thing. Looks like I just 'spaced out’.” Lance grins wickedly, and the others just shake their heads, Pidge mumbling something about Lance being just fine.

—

Keith doesn’t know what he was expecting for an excuse, but he’s surprised the others let it go so easily. He could have sworn Lance was looking his way… Keith dismisses the thought, and looks back at the group in time to hear another one of Lance’s puns.

“Spaced out.” Is all Keith catches, but it’s enough to guess what he said. Keith tries to roll his eyes and look unimpressed but he finds himself distracted by the cocky grin plastered on Lance’s face. God, how he’d love to wipe that look off his face. No, Keith, not is not the time for that. He scolds, a light blush gracing his cheekbones. Turning away with a sigh, Keith picked up his bayard and getting right back into training.

—

Soon the team breaks off and each of them goes to wind down somewhere alone. Lance finds himself back in his room, trying to make sense of his conflicting feelings. He and Keith were rivals weren’t they? He admits he never really hated Keith, just wanted to get his attention. Something clicks in his mind and Lance’s hand shoots to his mouth, a gasp escaping his lips. He liked Keith? It makes sense, and Lance finds himself wondering how longs ago it started. He thinks back to the Garrison, hating Keith because he was so good at everything, so nonchalant about it. The memories flowing back to him today are different than most, the usual flashes of family moments that leave a familiar pang of hurt in his stomach are not there. In their place are the times he was ignored or snubbed by Keith. So that’s why he didn’t realize it. Keith hated him back then. What if he still does? Lance’s mind screams at him, and he tries to fight it with logic. Voltron wouldn’t form if Keith hated him, right? So, Keith must at least tolerate him, which is better than nothing. So, a crush huh? Lance hadn’t had a serious crush since his days before the Garrison. Despite what others think, Lance really doesn’t get serious about people easily. He’s a huge flirt, sure, but it’s more a coping mechanism. He rolls over in his bed, ignoring the twisting of his gut. There were more important things to worry about than love, anyways.

—

Keith lay awake in bed, thinking about the days happenings. He thinks back to Lance’s grin when he told his pun, how unabashedly happy it was. It made his heart sing, and he sees just how far gone he is.

Everything sucks after that. He can’t keep Lance out of his head, and in training becomes tougher and tougher to keep his eyes off of Lance. But by watching Lance he also sees that Lance is watching him. Not too often, just sneaking glances now and then, and Keith wonders about the cause. Lance’s normal glare is gone when he looks at Keith, so Keith can only hope that it’s not with contempt. Lance’s face looks calm, strangely happy even, and Keith wonders if Lance is just staring into space. But no, there it is again, in training Lance’s gaze locked on Keith, somewhere just above his mid region. Keith looks down self consciously, making sure there isn’t a stain. When Keith’s looks up again, Lance is looking at him inquisitively. Noticing he’d been caught, Lance’s face snaps from startled to a scowl again in record time. Honestly, what was up with that guy?

—

Oh crap, he’d been caught staring. Thankfully Keith didn’t notice, or just didn’t question it, and the paladins continued on with their training. Lance looks around again, suddenly feeling like the entire world is watching. Or universe, in this case. Trying to return his focus to the exercises being done, Lance quiets down and takes his place next to Hunk.

Later, and Lance is still conflicted. How does he deal with this? Should he talk to someone? He considers his options. His first instinct is Hunk, who can’t keep secrets to save his life. Hunk wouldn’t be awful, but wasn’t there anyone else? Pidge would just blackmail him with anything he says, Shiro would be to…. Father-like. Definitely could not go to Shiro. Allura was similar to Shiro, she’d probably take on a motherly or even teasing tone. So who did that leave? Coran. Lance thinks back to the many, many times that Coran has helped him through his homesickness, accepted his weaknesses and soothed his yearning for his family. The memories of Coran showing Lance the different planets, telling him stories of his past, and even just letting Lance talk about the ones he left behind come back, and Lance feels himself smiling. He has made up his mind. While Coran may not truly understand the nature of humans, he can still make Lance feel better. So, he’ll talk to the mustached man tomorrow.

—

The next day, it’s already the afternoon when the paladins complete their training. Keith had been watching Lance again, but when is he ever not, but today Lance seemed off somehow. No one else seemed to notice, going about their usual ways, but Keith saw Lance constantly looking around, and glancing at the clock every few minutes. When the paladins break off, Keith barely catches a glimpse of Lance before he’s run out the door. Hunk asked about him, but the others didn’t seem to know where he’d gone. Somehow this worried Keith, and Hunk must have noticed because he came up behind him, placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder.

“Hey dude, Lance is probably just having some down time. Don’t worry about him.” Keith splutters, wondering if he was really that obvious or if Hunk was just being the helpful guy he is. Either way, it takes him a moment to recover and then reply.

“I wasn’t worried!” Keith would have liked to add more, but he was clearly flustered so he just huffed and left the room.

—

Lance scurried out of the training deck as soon as the paladins are dismissed, running into the control room he can almost always find Coran at. As per usual, the ginger man is standing by the controls, doing a sort of check of the castle.

“Hello, Coran!” Just upon seeing Coran’s wizened face, Lance grows even more confident. In turn, the older man’s face lights up with a smile almost hidden beneath his facial hair.

“Lance, my boy! So good to see you! How was training today?” Beaming, Coran turns head away from the screen but keeps typing away without even looking.

“It’s nice to see you too, Coran. And training was fine as always.” Lance can’t contain his desire to talk to someone, him being a very vocal person made it difficult for him to keep things like this to himself. Coran seems to notice this, and turns his full attention to Lance.

“Is something bothering you, young paladin?” Hearing the concern in Coran’s voice Lance panics and rushes to assure him it’s not that big a deal.

“Nothing bad! It’s just- Can I talk to you about something?” Coran steps away from the control system, and puts and arm around Lance, guiding him over to the bench.

“Talk all you like. Is it family?” Coran hesitates at the question but asks it anyways, looking at Lance.

“No, I said nothing bad, yeah? It’s just, uh, hard to get out.”

“Take your time.” Coran is patient and waits for Lance to gather his thoughts. Instead of jumping into confessions, Lance decides to start with a question.

“What’s love like in Altea?” If Coran is surprised he doesn’t show it, instead a look of nostalgia crossing his face.

“Ah, love. Well to put it simply, two Alteans fall in love and then get what would be considered 'married’ on Earth.” Lance considers this.

“Okay, but what about like, falling in love?” Coran raises an eyebrow, but continues.

“Two have a very strong bond formed between them, usually we don’t get what you call 'crushes’, just a deep bond between two people who live each other dearly.” Lance is so mystified, he almost misses the part about crushes.

“Wait! How do you know about crushes?” Coran coughs nervously, and then clears his throat to change the subject.

“I thought it was you who had something to tell me?” Lance had almost forgot. So, before he can back away He confesses all at once.

“Coran, I think I have a crush.” Coran doesn’t seem surprised in the least. Just looks back at Lance, urging him on.

“Like, until a while ago I wasn’t even sure I liked them, but now. Now I really, really like them.” Lance takes a deep breath. “What should I do?” Coran seems to ponder this, no doubt analyzing the situation to come up with a good solution.

“Well, it depends. Do you think they like you back?” Lance thinks about this. Does Keith like him back? He had seen him looking at him a few times, but maybe he still hates Lance?

“I don’t know. He might even hate me.” Then Lance flushes, and tries to correct his blatant mistake. “I mean, they. Ye-yeah, them.” Corans analytical gaze drifts over Lance and Lance shivers.

“Lance. I thunk I know who you are talking about. And no, I don’t think they hate you. Far from it, in fact.” Lance freezes up, but he trusts Coran with his life, so why not his secret?

“So? Uh, what should I do?”

“Well, I think you should tell him how you feel. Whenever you’re comfortable, of course. You needn’t worry about me telling anyone.” Lance breathed a sigh of relief at this. He trusts Coran, but sometimes you need to hear it to believe it.

“I think, I think you’re right. I’ll wait for a chance to tell him.” Lance nods to himself, but then an ugly thought crosses his mind. “Coran, what if he rejects me? What if it messes up the team? What if we can’t f-” Coran speaks over Lance, effectively cutting off his words.

“I think, if you go about it in the right way, whether he accepts you or rejects you, you two can remain teammates.” Go about it the right way? How would he even do that? He clears his mind, he’ll think about it later.

“Okay, I’ll think about it.”

—

“Thanks Coran, you’re the best.” That’s all Keith hears but he stops in his tracks, stopping just short of the door to the control room. He had been on his way to see Coran about some training sequences, but he hadn’t expected Lance to be here. He can’t help but be curious, so he presses himself against the door to listen in.

“How’d you get so good at all this love advice anyways? Wait don’t tell me!” Keith’s blood freezes. Love? They were talking about love? He presses his ear back against the door, hoping to catch something else important.

“Lance! In just happen to be very adept at things Like this. What about you? Should we talk more about your lovelife?” Wait? More? They had already been talking about Lance’s love life? Lance’s loud cheerful laugh rings out across the room, and Keith’s heart gives a painful squeeze. He really doesn’t want to listen to any more. He gives a few slightly heavier footsteps before pushing the door open, to give them a bit of warning. He steps in, and his eyes sweep the room, landing on Lance’s surprised face, and Coran who just looks amused. Keith nods in their direction.

“Why hello, Keith! What can we help you with?”

“Just came by about the training sequences.” Keith says slowly, pretending as if he hadn’t heard anything.

“Ah, yes. You want to make them more difficult, yes?”

“Yeah.” Keith’s throat feels dry, and he tries to stop thinking about whatever it is they were saying.

—

When Keith walks in, Lance balks, and he prays to every known god that he did not hear their conversation. Keith nods and Lance just slowly moves his head in greeting while Coran says hello. When the conversation carries on as normal, Lance is relieved. Until Coran suggests Keith stays here while he waits.

“Why don’t you wait here, Keith? I’ll be back in a jiffy!” Lance is so sure that Keith will refuse, stalk off to go hide somewhere, he almost falls off the bench at Keith’s reply.

“Sure, give me a shout when you’re done?”

“Of course!” Was Coran doing this on purpose? Who knows. But now Lance is faced with an incredibly awkward situation. Keith however, seems to ignore the tension in the air, and starts to walk over to Lance. He plops down on the bench next to Lance, leaving a bit of room between them, but not nearly as much as Lance would have liked.

“So, what were you guys talking about?” Keith’s voice rips through Lance’s thoughts.

“Not much.” Plain, short answer. Lance mentally hits himself, Keith will definitely ask again now, he should have just lied.

—

“Really?” Keith knows Lance is lying, and presses further.

“I’m sure it’s nothing you would be interested in.”

“Oh yeah? I rather like hearing about this sort of thing once and a while.”

“Besides- why are you being so nice? Can you stop pretending and go back to hating me already?” Keith was taken aback by this. Lance really thought he hated him?

“I don’t hate you, what makes you think that?” lance snorts, and repeats the words in a mocking tone under his breath.

“What makes me think that? Keith- you literally glare at me all day every day! How is that not hate?” Lance’s voice steadily got higher and louder, and Keith feels bad. But why did Lance think that? He never glared! Stared, maybe, but glared? Never.

“I never glare at you?” It comes out a question, not a challenging one, just one filled with confusion and Lance seems to notice. 

“Uh, dude. Training just an hour ago and you were glaring at me from across the gym.” A puzzled look comes across Keith’s face. He does recall watching Lance, he had thought it wasn’t obvious, but why did Lance think he was glaring? Then, Shiro’s words from back on Earth came back to him. 'You just give off that air, they’ll see your good intentions if they get to know you, but you’ve got to get that scowl off of your face’, Keith’s eyes widened, and Lance saw.

“What? You finally remember being a jackass?”

“No! Lance I didn’t mean to glare.” He winced at how pathetic it sounded, confirming it had not effect when Lance gave a huff of an amused laugh.

“Oh, I’m sure.”

“Lance! I wasn’t purposeful!”

“Sure, Keith. If you say so.” Lance’s voice was thick with accusation, not believing Keith for a second.

“Lance listen to me!”

“Why should I?! Give me a good rea-”

“I WAS CHECKING YOU OUT, YOU IDIOT!” It took a moment for the meaning of Keith’s outburst to reach Lance, but when it did, the flush was obvious of Lance’s caramel skin.

“O-oh. Wait- what?” Keith sighs, knowing he’s going to have to explain.

—

“You heard me. I was checking you out.” Lance tries not to choke, then tries to think of a good reply.

“Yeah, I heard. But, why? and why did you look so serious?” Lance can’t help but voice his thoughts. The initial shock was gone, leaving him confused. He hopes Keith meant what he said.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to look so unhappy. I guess that’s just my face.” Lance wonders how hard Keith must be trying in order not to sound rude.

“But why? I mean i know it’s hard to resist this” Lance makes a sweeping motion to himself, “but really?” It’s Keith’s turn to blush a little, and Lance immediately notices the pink tint. The blush is still there, but Lance notices Keith suck in a breath and stand up taller.

“Because I like you.” Straight to the point. Or gay to the point. Lance doesn’t fins the time to actually make the joke out loud, to busy processing Keith’s words. Keith must have noticed the strained look on Lance’s face, because he continues on.

“Look man, I’m sorry to have put this on you, and we can just forget it if you like. I don’t mind.” What? No! This isn’t what Lance wants! So without thinking, Lance turns his head and presses his lips into Keith’s.

—

Keith is surprised by Lance’s bold move, but he kisses back passionately. It’s messy, sure, but it’s good. 

“So? What are we?” Lance’s question makes Keith’s heart flutter in his chest, and he pulls Lance closer to him with the arm he has around the taller boys waist.

“What ever you want us to be.” 

“Boyfriends?” The pure innocence in Lance’s voice astounds Keith, and he silently wishes that he’ll hear it for the rest of his life.

“Sure. Boyfriends sound nice.” Lance curls up in Keith’s arms, the two of them wrapped in each others comfort. Lance’s hair soft, Keith soon finds out while brushing it to the side with his fingers. He plants a kiss on his bare forehead, then continues to run his pale fingers through the brown locks. Keith can hear him scoff, but he keeps going when he sees the relaxed look on Lance’s face. Lance begins to doze off, and before he knows it Keith is falling into sleep too, still entangled with the other boy. 

That’s how the others found them, Coran first, then the rest of them. Pidge snapped a picture 'for the memories’, but everyone knows it’s for blackmail. They leave the two there, Hunk throwing a blanket over them to keep them warm. 

“Pay up.” Pidge whispers to Hunk and Allura, holding their hand out towards them. The two collectively groan, quietly not to wake the sleeping boys.

“What ever you want?” Hunk asks.

“What ever I want.” Pidge smirks. 

“If only they’d held out another month!” Allura hisses, glaring daggers at the two sleeping peacefully. “But I am glad they got together finally.” Her gaze softens, and the rest of them clear the room, giving the unconscious paladins some room.

**Author's Note:**

> And there we go! Honestly I just wanted to make a pining fic for the title. Also,,,, did I mention I love Coran? Coran is an amazing supportive Uncle


End file.
